Light Meter Gauge Using Arduino

In this tutorial we will learn how to make a simple Light meter gauge using BH1750 light sensor and Arduino.

Watch the video!

Step 1: What You Will Need

• Arduino UNO or any other Arduino board
• BH1750 Ambient Light Sensor (I2C)
• OLED Display
• Breadboard
• Jumper wires
• Visuino software: Download here

Step 2: Circuit

• Connect Light Sensor pin [SCL] to Arduino pin [SCL]
• Connect Light Sensor pin [SDA] to Arduino pin [SDA]
• Connect Light Sensor pin [VCC] to Arduino pin [5v]
• Connect Light Sensor pin [GND] to Arduino pin [GND]
• Connect OLED Display pin [SCL] to Arduino pin [SCL]
• Connect OLED Display pin [SDA] to Arduino pin [SDA]
• Connect OLED Display pin [VCC] to Arduino pin [5v]
• Connect OLED Display pin [GND] to Arduino pin [GND]

Step 3: Start Visuino, and Select the Arduino UNO Board Type

The Visuino: https://www.visuino.eu also needs to be installed. Download Free version or register for a Free Trial.

Start Visuino as shown in the first picture Click on the "Tools" button on the Arduino component (Picture 1) in Visuino When the dialog appears, select "Arduino UNO" as shown on Picture 2

Step 4: In Visuino Add & Set Components

• Add "ROHM BH1750 Ambient Light Sensor (I2C)" component
• Add "Clock Multi Source" component and in the properties window set "Output Pins" to 3
• Add "Map Range Analog" componentIn the properties window set Input Range Max to 2000 <<(This is the Output of the sensor, Increase it if you want) and Output Range Min to 0

In the properties window set Output Range Max to 0 and Output Range Min to -180

• Add "OLED display" component

Double click on the DisplayOLED1 and in the Elements window:

• drag "Draw Angled Line" to the left side and in the properties window set Angle to -10, End to 60, X to 64, Y to 63, select angle and click on the pin icon and select Float Sink pin
• drag "Fill Screen" to the left side
• drag "Text Field" to the left side and in the properties window set X to 50 and Y to 50
• drag "Draw Ellipse" to the left side and in the properties window set Height to 124, Width to 124 and Y to 20

Close the Elements window

Step 5: In Visuino Connect Components

• Connect "LightSensor1" pin I2C Control to "Arduino" pin I2C In
• Connect "DisplayOLED1" pin I2C Out to "Arduino" pin I2C In
• Connect "LightSensor1" pin Out to "MapRange1" pin In
• Connect "LightSensor1" pin Out to "DisplayOLED1" > Text Field1 pin In
• Connect "MapRange1" pin Out to "DisplayOLED1" > Draw Angled Line1 pin Angle
• Connect "MapRange1" pin Out to "ClockMultiSource1" pin In
• Connect "ClockMultiSource1" pin[0] to "DisplayOLED1" > Fill Screen1 pin Clock
• Connect "ClockMultiSource1" pin[1] to "DisplayOLED1" > Draw Ellipse1 pin Clock
• Connect "ClockMultiSource1" pin[2] to "DisplayOLED1" > Draw Angled Line1 pin Clock

Step 6: Generate, Compile, and Upload the Arduino Code

In Visuino, at the bottom click on the "Build" Tab, make sure the correct port is selected, then click on the "Compile/Build and Upload" button.

Step 7: Play

If you power the Arduino module and the display will start to show the light sensor value.

Congratulations! You have completed your project with Visuino. Also attached is the Visuino project, that I created for this tutorial, you can download it and open it in Visuino: https://www.visuino.eu